Days Past
by seaweedfma
Summary: Roy is feeling badly, and Ed knows why, but still isn't happy about it. Roy Mustang x Edward Elric, past Roy Mustang x Maes Hughes. Anime based, slightly AU, original ep. 25 spoilers. Contains Roy x Maes backstory.


Your name: Seaweed Otter  
Your username in comm: Seaweed_FMA  
Fic title: Days Past  
Fic rating: PG (language)  
Word count: About 2,030  
Light or dark theme: Dark  
Spoilers/Warnings: Anime Episode 25 spoilers. Slightly AU but set in the Anime Universe. Non-canon Roy and Hughes back history. (And I of course don't own the characters)

Ed groaned softly when he awoke, blinking as the light of the morning expanded his pupils. It hadn't been a very peaceful sleep, with the anxiousness of knowing what was going to happen the next day. When he rolled over, he was not surprised at all to see that Roy was already awake and out of bed, his side of the sheets folded neatly. Ed doubted seriously that the man had gotten any sleep at all.

The young blonde sighed, and sat up, rubbing his eyes to get the last of the blurry sleepy spots out of his vision. With a yawn and a stretch, he rolled over and stood up, letting out a little yelp of surprise at how cold Roy's floor was. Grumbling, he went to the bathroom and took care of the morning necessities, then padded back out into the bedroom while pulling his long, straight hair back into its customary pony tail. He groaned when he looked in his dresser drawer, putting on the last clean pair of boxers and a t-shirt.

"Oh, good. The day is getting even better. Now I have to do laundry today as well." He sighed again and with one last stretch opened the door to the hallway, where his nose was assaulted with the smell of eggs and toast. For a moment, his eyes lit up and his stomach growled. "Oh, breakfast!" he grinned, and started a sprint down the top of the stairs which stopped as soon as he reached the last step. He really shouldn't be in such a hurry to see Roy this morning, but it was breakfast, and Roy had been there for him so many times in the past when he felt bad. His stomach and his mind were at odds at what to do.

He took a couple of deep breaths, and at a slower pace rounded the corner into the kitchen, where he saw Roy at the table, reading the paper and sipping on a cup of coffee, with a plate of food that he had hardly touched.

"So, you gonna eat now that I am here, or am I going to have to shove that down your throat?" Ed smiled, that big, clunky smile that made everyone sure that he was up to no good.

"Not today, Ed. I'm not in the mood." Ed's face quickly fell to a frown. He went over to the stove and fixed his plate of eggs and toast, throwing the spoon around and making enough noise to make sure that Roy was aware of his displeasure. Roy simply sighed and took another sip of his quickly cooling java.

"Enough, Ed. I really don't think I can handle one of your tantrums today. You know why I'm in a bad mood. For once, just let me handle it myself." As soon as the words left his mouth, Roy silently cursed himself for saying it. Even at 17, the young man hadn't let go of a lot of his rage and emotional childishness.

For just a moment, Ed stood there, his hands shaking, rattling the items on his plate. Roy put his glass down and turned his chair towards the younger man. "Ed, wait. I didn't mean-"

"Excuse the hell out of me for fucking caring about how my lover feels!" Ed yelled, throwing his plate into the sink- cracking it and sending the eggs and toast sliding slowly towards the drain. He stormed past Roy and into the living room, where he pulled on his boots- apparently forgetting that he was clad only in a pair of boxers and a thin t-shirt- and his long red jacket, and slammed the front door behind him so hard that the plates in the china hutch two rooms over shook violently.

Roy sighed again, rubbing his temples and thumping his forehead loudly down on the kitchen table. "Why did I ever fall in love with that man?" he wondered aloud.

______________________________________________________________________________

Half an hour later saw the mess in the kitchen fixed, and the dinnerware in the china hutch put back in order. He had only lost a couple of plates and one cup. Thankfully, they were all replaceable. There had been times, when Ed was younger and even more of a hothead (which would seem impossible without knowing Ed if just this one tantrum had been witnessed), when he had lost more valuable items, like a couple of out of print alchemy texts. He was just glad that Ed seemed to be maturing- at least a little.

The radio played softly in the background, and Roy flopped unceremoniously on his couch with a large book on his lap. It smelt of mothballs and dust and old, and it was one item that Ed would never get his hands on before Roy lay 6 feet under and rotting in the ground.

The tiniest of smiles dotted Roy's face when he opened the photo album and saw side by side pictures of Roy and Maes Hughes when they were five year old children. They had exchanged some old pics of themselves for the other to keep as their friendship had blossomed over the years. As he turned the page, they went from five year olds to nine year olds, Maes at a relative's farm, keeling beside a prize pig, and Roy at his Alchemy teacher's house, in a dusty room with dusty books and an equally dusty old man.

Pictures of nine year olds gave way to pictures of awkward teenagers, with bad skin and bad hair, both with their first dates- ironically both of them had tall, lanky blond girls on their arms, with pink corsages pinned on their dresses.

More pages passed, and there were the first pictures of them together, at their first day at the military academy. Riza was there as well, though she was a few years behind the similarly aged boys. Roy's teacher took the picture, making sure to take three so each of them could have a copy.

There were many pictures of their academy life, Maes snapping candid (blackmailing) shots of Roy and how he drooled in his sleep and cuddled his pillow, Roy's counter shots of Maes sans glasses and wild-haired after he just woke up in the morning (enough to scare most people away). There were a few pics that Maes had taken of Gracia when they had started dating as well.

The smile on Roy's face faded quickly. There were thankfully few pics of Ishbal- memories that he needed to dredge up even less than usual- and he flipped thru them quickly. As fast as the pictures were sad, they became happy again- pictures of Maes and Gracia reunited, of Roy shaking the hand of his Alchemy teacher, Riza now in uniform as well.

Roy's smile returned when he turned to the photos of Maes' wedding, Roy standing beside him as the Best Man. He sniffled slightly, with the slightest of giggles at a picture of Maes and Gracia smearing cake on each others' faces. The pictures expanded from there, of their new offices at Central and Eastern Commands, of Roy's subordinates: Hawkeye, Havoc, Fuery, Falman, Breda, Armstrong- and even a couple of Ed and Al in his suit of armor.

His hand shook at the last pages, newspaper clippings of a murder in a phone booth, small snippets of the police tape used to corner off the area, pictures of the funeral that others had taken and given to him, pictures of the grave site- filled with cards and teddy bears and pictures that friends and relatives had left.

He closed the book with a slam, bringing up a cloud of dust that made him cough. Quickly he grabbed the already opened bottle of scotch that was on the table by the couch and didn't even bother to pour out a glass, taking a long swig from the bottle, which made him cough once again. It burned sliding down his throat, but it was a pain he had gotten used to. It was a small penitence that he paid for all the things that he had done in his life.

It was harder to grab the bottle a second time thru the tears that clouded his vision. He'd lost his best friend in the whole world, a friend who had gone to his grave without revealing to anyone- even his wife- the man that Roy loved. As much scotch dribbled down his chin and stained the front of his shirt as went down his  
throat the second time, and the third. With a shaky hand, he put the bottle down, his vision clouded thru the haze of half drunkenness and blurred by tears of pain and loss.

"Ya know, you bastard, if you keep doing that, there isn't going to be enough of you left for me to be pissed off at."

A startled Roy looked towards the sound and saw Ed, his coat for once tied closed (and mostly hiding the lack of clothing he wore underneath), his eyes rimmed red.

"I.. I.. am sorry, Ed. You know how I get on this day of the year.. The anniversary of the day... Maes died." He looked back down at his trembling hands for a moment. "I didn't mean to yell at you earlier. You know I love you, and I'd do anything for you. It's just.. that.. "He stopped trying to hold in his sobbing. "I miss him, Ed!" He broke down, his head in his hands.

He hardly felt Ed's weight push down beside him on the couch, or felt the cold automail arm go around his shoulder and gently pull him towards the shorter man's body. Roy didn't fight him, his body falling slowly towards his lover. Ed wrapped his human arm around him, gently stroking his fingers through Roy's ebony black hair.

"It is alright, Roy. I understand. I miss him too, you know. Both Al and I.." Ed stopped for a moment, remembering his brother with a sharp pain of regret, "..really got to like him and his family." Ed loosened his grip on his lover, giving him a soft kiss on the forehead. "I got it, why don't we go visit Gracia and Elysia? I am sure they would love to see you, and they are only a day's train ride away in the East. You have been working hard, we can get some time off, I am sure."

Roy sniffled one, rubbed his nose, and managed a tiny smile. "That.. that sounds good, Ed. I will call Hawkeye later today. I think I need a while to compose myself first."

"Alright, it is settled then. Now, first thing's first. I am gonna see if I can whip us up some early lunch. I don't think either of us had much for breakfast!" Roy smiled a little harder, standing up on shaky legs and grabbing the photo album that lay askew on the coffee table.

"What is that, Roy? I haven't seen it before." Ed asked.

"It is nothing, Ed. I'll explain it to you another time. Not today." Ed fumed for a second, and would've continued the argument, but the man inside the still young boy realized that Roy was not in the mood to argue, and he could bring it up in the future. He grumbled and stalked quietly towards the kitchen. Roy went to his study and put the book back, then went back to the kitchen where Ed, master of the 10 second mood swings, already had a smile on his face, mixing up a bowl of tuna salad in a big white bowl with a wooden spoon.

"Tuna?"

"Shrimp."

"WHO YOU CALLING A BEANSPROUT SHRIMP WHO CANT EVEN MAKE LUNCH?!?!?"

Roy just smiled and sat at the table, shaking his head softly. Despite it all, some things never changed.


End file.
